Topical Studies
What the Bible says about Attempts to Entrap Jesus in the Breach of the Law
(From Forerunner Commentary)
Jesus had just confounded the Sadducees' question concerning marriage in the resurrection, and their rivals, the Pharisees, were probably gloating at their discomfort. Now, it was the Pharisees' turn to try to ensnare Jesus. They sought to find the most challenging question that they themselves disputed over and proposed to make Him squirm by asking it of Him.
They selected a lawyer, that is, a scribe well-versed in the law of Moses, to do the asking. The lawyer had heard Jesus reasoning with the Sadducees and putting them to silence, and the Pharisees probably believed that the lawyer was better equipped to confound Jesus with a truly difficult question. The lawyer's job was to probe His understanding of the law, an area in which they thought He was weak.
The problem with the Pharisees is that they never grasped the simplicity of the law, much less the spirit of it, but gnashed at it, picked at it, and dissected it with the intent of being thought righteous because of their intellect. In doing so, they missed what God intended in giving the law. To see it from God's point of view would require change, and indeed, that could be a frightening thing.
"Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 'Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?'" (Matthew 22:35-36). When one considers the Pharisees' penchant for nitpicking rather than acting from the heart, we can see how endless discussions and arguments could occur over this question. As it had stumped them, they felt it would surely befuddle Him.
The Jews had divided the commandments into greater and lesser commandments. In addition, the Pharisees were polarized in different camps, divided in their opinions regarding washings and other purification rites, laws of sacrifice and offering, circumcision, etc. In short, they were focused on twigs, missing the entire forest.
So, to ask Jesus which was the greatest commandment, a question they could not agree upon, seemed to be the ultimate way of drawing Him into their endless arguments. More than that, they figured it would finally put Him down in the eyes of the people.
In His answer, Jesus does not hesitate a bit, cutting through all the chaff and endless arguing, and placed the correct answer before them: "Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and great commandment'" (Matthew 22:37-38).
In effect, He says we are to love our God with the entirety of our being, more than the pleasures Satan sets before us, more than the individual escapes we run to when we are tired or down, more than the pulls of this flesh, more than the opinions of our peer groups, employers, or neighbors, and more than our own intellect and opinions. Simply, we are to put God and His instructions first in our lives in every way.
Jesus states it so simply it must have been difficult for His twig-focused audience to comprehend. This commandment, out of Deuteronomy 6:5, is the first, the greatest of all in dignity and excellence, and is the foundation of all other commandments. It all begins with God and our wholehearted devotion to Him.
John O. Reid
You Shall Love Your Neighbor (Part One)
Luke records one of the few miracles of Jesus Christ performed in a synagogue, His healing of a stooped woman (Luke 13:10-17). His Sabbath-day miracles picture the purposes of God's plan of salvation. The Sabbath incidents recorded in Luke 6:1-11 involve Jesus' lordship over the Sabbath, while this account illustrates its meaning.
The seventh day is a holy convocation (Leviticus 23:3), and Jesus uses it to teach God's way. The Sabbath service's purpose is not for entertainment, as so many churches seem to stress today, but it is for vital and joyful worship of the one true God.
Jesus' adversaries closely watched Him, especially on the Sabbath, in hope of trapping Him in some breach of the law concerning it. In their unbelief and perversity, those blind leaders of the blind failed to understand that they were condemning the original Giver of the law. That they were supposed to be the religious leaders of God's chosen people exacerbated their sin. Instead, they burdened the people with humanly-reasoned restrictions and taboos.
Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Stooped Woman (Part One)
This healing is one of seven performed on the Sabbath. Jesus' adversaries closely scrutinized Him on the Sabbath in hopes of trapping Him in a breach of the law. A person's Sabbath conduct was the Jewish religious leaders' litmus test of conformity. Their tests followed their burdensome and humanly reasoned Sabbath rules (I John 5:3). While their rules bound people to unyielding strictures, Christ loosed the woman from Satan's bond.
Their rules against healing on the Sabbath gave them ammunition to attack despite His compassionate healings. Jesus later points out that a person is far more important than an animal, and even His enemies see no wrong in helping distressed animals on the Sabbath (Luke 14:5). The hypocrisy and foolishness of the religious leaders is obvious.
As a result, Jesus' opponents are humiliated, but the crowds are delighted. Having dishonored Christ and done the people great disservice, “All His adversaries were put to shame” (Luke 13:17). Shame will always be the result of sin. If a person does not repent of his opposition to Christ, shame will be his reward.
When sin and its curses are dealt with properly, good people rejoice. Dealing with sin in a lenient and lackadaisical way does not bring true happiness. David writes, “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity” (Psalm 32:1-2). When sin is forgiven and overcome, people find true joy.
Martin G. Collins
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Healing a Stooped Woman (Part Two)Related Topics: Attempts to Entrap Jesus in the Breach of the Law | Hypocrisy and Foolishness of Religious Leaders | Rule 'against' Healing on the Sabbath | Sabbath as a 'Burden' | Sabbath as Liberation from Bondage | Sabbath as Liberation from Spiritual Slavery | Sabbath Conduct | Unyielding Strictures of Pharisaical Rules
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